According to media reports, Ma is said to have wanted to meet Mahathir earlier this month but the proposed meeting had to be postponed because Mahathir wanted to focus on putting together his new Pakatan Harapan government.

Meet up with Jack Ma, The founder of Ali Baba at The Prime Minister Office this morning. We had a good exchange of ideas on a wide range of subjects. pic.twitter.com/znqjlUHnci

— Dr Mahathir Mohamad (@chedetofficial) June 18, 2018

The previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government had appointed Ma as the government’s digital economy advisor.

Ma’s meeting with Mahathir comes in the wake of the new government’s pledge to review several Beijing-backed projects initiated by the BN government as it looks more towards Japan for economic cooperation.

Ma was in Kuala Lumpur last year to launch the world’s first Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) designed to promote the growth of e-commerce by providing a state-of-the-art platform for SMEs and enterprises to conduct their businesses and services.

Mahathir has been reported as having said that the DFTZ project would go on.